FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — Southwestern women's tennis defeated its third nationally-ranked opponent of the season, winning 6-3 over the No. 19-ranked Skidmore Thoroughbreds in a neutral site match hosted by the University of Mary Washington.
The No. 14-ranked Pirates picked up a critical 2-1 advantage after doubles, winning lines 1 and 3. Nina Mitrofanova and Lydia Lee opened an early lead and withstood a comeback by Chanhtel Thongphok and Grace Truong, holding on for an 8-6 win in the top spot.
Lauren Chisholm and Taylor Despriet had an easier go of it at No. 3 doubles, winning 8-2 over Konika Dhull and Ella Provost. However, Skidmore avoided the sweep with an Audrey Soohoo and Lily Feldman 8-5 victory over Alli Ziehm and Emma Kesterson.
"Nina and Lydia were up 7-3, and things got tight to 7-6 where they fought off a couple of breakpoints to serve it out and get us a huge 2-1 lead going into singles," Southwestern head tennis coach Billy Porter says.
Mitrofanova earned a 6-0, 6-4 win over Almquist in No. 1 singles. Feldman won a second-set win over Despriet to take the No. 2 match 6-2, 7-6. Then, Kesterson breezed to a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Dhull in the third spot, while Truong scored a three-set win over Sydney Wahl, winning 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in No. 4 singles.
Lee and Ziehm shored up the bottom of the lineup with a pair of wins in No. 5 and 6 singles. Lee defeated Thongphok for the second time in a 6-7, 6-4, 10-5 victory. Ziehm won over Provost with a 6-1, 6-4 score.
"Emma was dominant today in singles, and her maturity was visible in how she was able to reset after a rough day on the doubles court. Her energy continues to be a huge intangible for this team that her teammates feed off of," Porter says. "Alli served for the match at 5-3 in the second and was broken. But, she dug deep and broke back to secure us a huge fourth point."
This season, Southwestern improved to 6-1, including a perfect 5-0 against Division III teams. The Pirates will face the No. 12-ranked University of Mary Washington tomorrow at 12:30 p.m.
